Saturday letters: Hemp, responsibility, IRS

Updated 6:54 pm, Friday, April 25, 2014

A case for cooler prisons

With regards to not providing air-conditioning in the Texas prisons ("Chairman not ready to cool off prisoners" (Page B1, Wednesday), here are some points to consider:

No. 1: Prisons and jails should be as much about rehabilitation into society as punishment. Rehabilitation can turn many people around. Roasting in heat will do little to rehabilitate. If anything it will turn folks to anger.

No. 2: Texas has many ex-prisoners - and many current prisoners - who have been wrongly convicted. We've only seen the beginning. Some remain in prisons even after they have been found not guilty. Many of them are African-American.

No.3. As others have said, cruel and unusual punishment is unconstitutional.

No. 4. Consider how society treats its prisoners. Most human beings, under the right conditions, can be rehabilitated when given a fair chance.

Regarding "Stakes high in Ashby high-rise case" (Page B1, Sunday), whatever the outcome, city Attorney Dave Feldman seems to have gotten it backward.

What will irreparably impair future development of the city is a continued lack of planning, outmoded and obsolete regulations and poor coordination of new development and infrastructure capacity.

Scatter-shot, haphazard development patterns are no way to build a great city, unless you want more traffic congestion and delays, dangerous streets, flooding and car-dependence at the expense of effective rail transit.

Feldman's argument has a serious flaw; it is a policy statement based on undocumented speculation, not a legal argument. His solution will foster what Mayor Annise Parker has denounced as "the wrong development in the wrong place."

If I were the judge, I would:

Order a significant down-scaling of the Ashby project to a mid-rise;

Reprimand the city for the lack of effective development standards and mandate a modern overhaul of our development code (Chapter 42);

Require the adoption of a "General Plan" which designates appropriate areas of high, medium and lower density development based on the city's capacity to serve those areas. Let's remember that even without zoning, the high stakes are the city's fundamental obligation under the law "to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the community."

Regarding "D.C. cuts fine for holding cannabis to $25" (Page A5, March 5), I see no rational reason why Texas should not follow the example of Colorado and Washington concerning the legalization of hemp.

I personally do not partake. However, the many people who I know personally say it has excellent creative and mellowing effects. Also, it has been proven to be of great benefit to those who suffer chronic pain.

Regarding "1,100 IRS workers owing back taxes received bonus" (Page A5, Wednesday), given our current economic situation, it does seem unfair for the federal government to take taxpayer dollars and give bonuses to IRS employees. Is the Department of Justice prosecuting the misconduct of certain IRS employees or do they get a break because they are federal employees?

If the president wanted to show he cares about the American public, he would have frozen all pay increases and especially any bonuses until the recovery actually happens.